Kuang’s Bestseller on the Power of Language

“By the time I finished reading Babel this past winter break,” said Stephen Angle, Professor of Philosophy and East Asian Studies and Director of the Fries Center for Global Studies, “I realized that it is was a perfect entry point for this year’s Power of Language Week.” Babel is a critically acclaimed best-seller that has disputes, debates, and violence over language at its core. Angle added, “Babel offers no easy answers about the damage that colonialism and imperialism can do to languages and cultures around the world, but it brings them into sharp focus by imagining an alternative history in which mastery of multiple languages — and especially languages that are rare in 1830s England — gives one power.”

Reviews of Babel bring out the power and timeliness of R. F. Kuang’s book. Writes Peng Shepherd, bestselling author of The Cartographers, Babel is a “stunningly brilliant exploration of identity, belonging, the cost of empire and revolution—and the true power of language. Kuang has written the book the world has been waiting for.”

Author R. F. Kuang will be coming to Wesleyan on Monday, February 20 at 4:30pm, for a conversation, Q&A, and book signing to be held in the Daniel Family Commons (3rd floor of Usdan University Center). Please click the Facebook link for more details.

Did you know Rebecca Kuang is a Marshall Scholar? Learn more about the Marshall Scholarship and reach out to fellowships@wesleyan.edu if you’re interested in applying.